We’ve spent years going to Universal back before they built the land of Harry Potter. Back then it was the Adventure land or something of that sort. Not too exciting, to be honest. I remember going to Universal and seeing them build bits and pieces of the Hogwarts castle, sectioning off some areas to add Hogsmeade village. Soon we were able to see the snow covered peaks of the houses there.

I remember being super excited about it openning in 2010, so much that my girlfriends and I took numerous jumping pictures in front of the mere sign announcing the openning of the new land.
{don’t mind my retarded face here}

Then I remember the day it opened. Some of my Orlando friends actually went there that day, which is a suicide and I remember them telling me how mind blowing the new ride in Hogwarts castle is.

A few weeks later we went there for the only reason of seeing this new HP land.

Now I have to say I LOOOOVED HP books – every single one of them, read them the day each one of them came out, was absolutely ecstatic about the movies, watched and re-watched them a million times. So needless to say this was a special trip to Universal, not like any other one out of about 20-30 trips we’ve taken ( we live 3 hours away and often come for 1-2 days and stay at Disney resorts).

So here’s a little tour, for those who haven’t had the chance to experience it just yet {some of the photos are from different trips there}:

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When you walk in, you get greeted by the Hogwarts Express train:

The Hogsmeade village would be so realistic if it wasn’t for millions of touristy looking people walking the streets

The Butterbeer stand is the first thing you see:

I was super excited to try it. I’m not a fan of overly sweet drinks, but this was something: it was worth every single calorie and toothache. The lines to buy Butterbeer are usually a mile long. Not that day

I wasn’t as impressed with the candy and trick shops. But the clothing stores were amazing: all that Hogwarts goodness, especially scarfs for each of the houses.

One of the best places to eat was Three Broomsticks. Now, to be honest, Universal SUCKS at food. I’m used to Disney themed restaurants and relatively healthy food in street shops. About 4-5 years ago under new management Disney changed all their menus/vendors or something, because the food quality definitely went up, Universal, however, never got hit by the clue bus and continues to think that burgers, hot dogs, turkey legs and fries is an acceptable and only food form. Broomsticks luckily has a few items that a more healthy eater can enjoy, but it’s not great: garden salad, corn, potato leek soup, fish and chips ( bad version of British fish’n'chips) and a few other items that I can’t eat  seemed relatively acceptable (beef pie, chicken, etc). So needless to say, we only stop at Broomsticks now whenever we go to Islands of Adventure ( before we had to go to City Walk to eat).

So after lunch, everyone heads out to Hogwarts, the main attraction of Harry Potter land.

 

The castle itself is, of course, absolutely stunning. It’s too bad we’re not early risers, because it’d be great to take a picture of it without the back lighting, against blue sky for once. The wait usually doesn’t exceed 30-40 minutes, however there were a couple times I saw 50-60 on that board. The ride itself is continuous, so the lines move MUCH faster than in most attractions.

Besides, who minds standing in line, where there’s SO much fun stuff to see around. I don’t have a SINGLE picture of the inside of the castle, since you have to check your bags, and to be fair, you’re just so amazed by the intricacy of the inside of the castle that photography is the last thing on your mind: moving pictures on the wall, Dumbledore in his study, Ron, Hermione and Harry hiding under the invisibility cloak in the classroom, screaming newspapers, and much much more.

 

The ride itself is great! I would even say “the best ride evah” if it wasn’t for the fact that Universal decided to go the IMAX-type screen route rather than 3D route for this one. If you ever rode Spiderman, it’s very similar except for the 3D effects, which are replaced here by a massive screen that makes you sort of feel you’re there, but not as well as 3D would ( kind of like Soarin’ at Epcot).

There’s a lot of real sets with dementors, which scare the crap out of you ( if you’re planning on going, seat the most squeamish person on the last seat on your right). I sat in the right spot the first time and a Dementor almost freaking swallowed me. There are massive snakes, and human-sized spiders, that tree from the movie that likes to rape innocent boys and cars, there’s Quidditch, moooore dementors and everything a fan would want.

Besides the Hogwarts ride, there is  some kiddie coaster, and the re-purposed Dueling Dragon coaster ( floorless coaster).
But the “magic” doesn’t stop there. Before you head out of the land to continue to Dr Suess land or Jurassic Park, there is one more thing that deserves attention: The Ollivanders Wand shop. The shop “claims” to create and experience like in the movie, where the wand picks you ( or smth like that). In reality, you stand in line for about 30 minutes…

Then they let a whole crowd into the shop that’s an exact replica of the one you see in the movie, except for it’s not as old, dusty and scary. The stacks of wands are EVERYWHERE:

They do a little presentation, showing a few magic tricks, and then let the crowd out. Very disappointing – no personalized wand picking, that’s for sure!
You do get to take a picture with Ollivander himself, though:

And then you’re free to go on into the shop and pick out a wand for yourself and I gotta tell you: if you have kids, it’s pretty special. There’re wands of all the book characters, including Voldemort ( yucky white bony wand), all the wands are EXACTLY what you see in the movies.

Gabby, my friend’s daughter, got herself a super pretty Hermione wand and every time she’d be watching a HP movie from then on, she’d pull out her wand and scream out in joy when  Hermione would use THE EXACT SAME WAND!

So there it is, the most magical Harry Potter land.

Are you, guys, Potter fans? Are you all sad the books and movies and done?